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(Corrects third paragraph of story from Jan. 9 to reflect trip was Ahmadinejad’s fifth to the region.)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, facing tighter U.S. sanctions and rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, will turn to his diminished group of allies in Latin America for support this week.

Ahmadinejad arrived in Venezuela yesterday to kick off a four-nation tour to push investment projects such as a hydro- electric power plant in Ecuador. He’ll be joining forces with leaders like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Raul Castro in taking shots at the U.S. in its own backyard, defying attempts to isolate Iran over its nuclear activities.

Iran’s Latin American allies shouldn’t expect too much in return. Iran has yet to fulfill pledges made by Ahmadinejad on previous trips -- he’s made four since 2005 -- to build a port in Nicaragua and an oil refinery in Ecuador. Unlike during his last regional tour in 2009, he won’t visit Brazil, where Pre…

LONDON: Recalling his "very good" relations with Chairman Mao Zedong, the Dalai Lama on Sunday said that he considered him "as a father" and that the late Chinese leaderconsidered him "as a son" .

The Dalai Lama, who is on a public visit to the UK told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC, "He (Mao) appears to me as a father and he himself considered me as a son. (We had) very good relations. The only problem was that on many occasions, when official dinners were held, Chairman Mao always used to bring me to his side" .

He added, "So then as per Chinese tradition, Chairman Mao himself would use his chopsticks to put some food in my plate. So in a way it was a great honour, but in a way I feel little fear... he used to cough too much, a chain smoker, so I might get some germs."

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, said that older Tibetans wanted him to return "as soon …

1. Justice was done in the end. From the second minute of the match, when Daniele de Rossi struck a swerving shot from 30 yards out that cannoned off the inside of Joe Hart's post, Italy might have felt it was not going to be its night. Mario Balotelli had a hat-trick of chances in the first half, the last of which a close-range toe-poke that was deflected over the crossbar, led him to kicking the goalpost in frustration.

It was not so different in the second period, most of which Italy dominated.

De Rossi somehow shinned a volley wide from three yards out, and then three chances in quick succession: a De Rossi shot parried, Balotelli's follow-up blocked by Hart's knee and Ricardo Montolivo's lunging effort just over the top. Balotelli, who had 10 shots in the match, hit an overhead kick, Diamanti hit the post and Antonio Nocerino had a late header correctly ruled out for offside.

UPDATE, 7:45 p.m.: While the exact track of Debby remains uncertain, a sharp turn to the west now (towards Louisiana and east Texas) is less likely, whereas a continued northeast drift towards the northwest coast of Florida is more likely.

Due to Debby’s slow movement, extreme rainfall amounts - as much as 10-20”+ in some locations along the west coast of Florida and Florida panhandle is a possibility.

Serious flooding is a major risk with this storm.

From 12:37 p.m.: Tropical storm Debby, which formed Saturday afternoon in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, is giving forecasters fits about its future course as it drifts northeast at 6 mph and drenches the west coast of Florida. Situated 140 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, the storm’s maximum sustained winds are 60 mph.

Some modest strengthening is possible over the next 48 hours, and Debby could become a minimal hurricane. But torrential rain, rather than …

Two months ago, James Lovelock, the godfather of global warming, gave a startling interview to msnbc.com in which he acknowledged he had been unduly “alarmist” about climate change.

The implications were extraordinary.

Lovelock is a world-renowned scientist and environmentalist whose Gaia theory — that the Earth operates as a single, living organism — has had a profound impact on the development of global warming theory.

Unlike many “environmentalists,” who have degrees in political science, Lovelock, until his recent retirement at age 92, was a much-honoured working scientist and academic.

His inventions have been used by NASA, among many other scientific organizations.

Muslim Brotherhood candidate declared the official winner with 13.2 million votes.

Last Modified: 24 Jun 2012 14:33

Morsi was declared the winner with 13.2 million votes, the electoral commission said [EPA]

The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi has officially won Egypt's presidential election and will be the country's next president, the electoral commission has announced.

Morsi picked up 13.2 million votes out of just over 26 million, giving him about 51 per cent of the vote. His competitor, Ahmed Shafiq, the final prime minister under Hosni Mubarak, received 12.3 million. More than 800,000 ballots were invalidated.

Farouq Sultan, the head of the election commission, delivered a long speech before announcing the results in which he defended the body's "independence and integrity" amidst what he called meddling by unnamed political factions.

The two candidates filed 456 complaints about the electoral process, Sultan said, most of them allegations of either forger…

A tropical storm warning has been issued for South Alabama and Northwest Florida as Tropical Storm Debby, the fourth storm of the 2012 hurricane season, continues to church in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center said Saturday the storm is expected to move over the northern Gulf of Mexico with gradual turn toward Texas during the next few days. Debby is forecast to become a hurricane.

The latest conditions and forecast path for Debby are in the graphic above, click to enlarge.

For the coastal portions of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, there is a high surf and coast flood advisory in effect. Winds are forecast to be 10-15 mph in the inland areas and 15-20 mph closer to the coast on Sunday with gusts of 30 mph possible. For more on the local impacts from Debby,click here.

Debby has also forced the suspension of eight percent of the region’s oil and gas production.

Officials said nine production platforms and one drilling rig were evacuated — including one drillin…

The task for England team speaker Paul Burrell may be more straightforward than last Tuesday when he and the fans were up against co-hosts Ukraine in a group decider in Donetsk.

"It was difficult, we knew it was going to be backs-to-the-wall stuff, but I think it brought the best out of the England fans, they were very defiant. We've been outnumbered before in Rome (v Italy in 1997) and Munich (v Germany in 2001). We were glad to be 0-0 at half-time."

Now, of course, the dream is to return to the Olympic Stadium for next Sunday’s final. "We didn't really expect too much, this is a real bonus, and we are scared to imagine what could happen in the next few days. But let's just …

MEXICO CITY — With help from U.S. intelligence, Mexican marines captured a son of the Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman early Thursday as the toplogistics coordinator for the smuggling organization was rolling out of bed, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials.

The arrest of Jesus Alfredo Guzman comes just weeks after the U.S. Treasury Department designated him a drug trafficking kingpin and a key operative in the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s largest and most lucrative crime mafias.